Many motor vehicle collisions which occur at night are the result of poor visibility in which motorists fail to see other vehicles on the road. In particular, at night time, a motorist may often fail to see the rear lamps of a vehicle travelling in front and subsequently collide with the rear of the vehicle.
This problem is exacerbated when the preceding vehicle is a truck, as truck lights are often dull, covered with a layer of dust or mud, or positioned higher on the vehicle than other motorists may expect.
Australian patent number 59797/90 discloses a safety device for minimizing accidents involving moving and parked vehicles. The application discloses a photodetector which is rearwardly mounted on a parked motor vehicle. The parked motor vehicle is enabled by means of the photodetector, to detect the headlamps of other motor vehicles approaching the parked vehicle from the rear. Upon detecting the headlamps of an approaching motor vehicle, the photodetector is activated and causes an electrical circuit to switch on the parking lights of the parked vehicle. The parking lights of the parked vehicle remain switched on for as long as the light from the headlamps continue to impinge on the photodetector.
As far as the applicant is aware, there does not exist any safety device for indicating the presence of moving vehicle on a road to an approaching motorists.